Adopt #PDXVisionZero to prioritize traffic safety in the City of Portland.

This past weekend, the City of Portland witnessed the latest tragedies in an ongoing epidemic of unacceptable traffic violence on our streets. Yan Huang, 78, was struck and killed by an automobile while attempting to cross SE Division with her husband, who was hospitalized from the collision. This profoundly sad Valentine’s Day fatality was immediately followed by a hit-and-run collision that left another citizen dead on our streets.

In light of the epidemic of traffic fatalities in East Portland, I demand that the City of Portland recognize the moral imperative to fix our unsafe streets and swiftly declare that the Portland Bureau of Transportation commits to “Vision Zero” policies. Vision Zero is a premise that every traffic crash is preventable, and that every injury and life lost on a city’s streets is a fundamental civic failure.

I implore city leaders to implement a workable, accountable plan that promises to expediently eliminate traffic fatalities throughout the City of Portland.